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One little lapse proved to be incredibly costly for the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon.

Despite sticking to their structure, generating more offensively and putting forth a pretty sound performance, a shorthanded goal from Zach Parise with just under five minutes left in regulation allowed the Minnesota Wild to force overtime and eventually earn a 3-2 shootout victory over the Jets at MTS Centre.

Instead of going out on the road riding high after a hard-earned victory, the Jets are left to lament another lost point against a Central Division rival.

"For the most part we got a good effort from a lot of players and as you can see, winning and losing is determined by a fine line for us," said Jets head coach Claude Noel. "We've played Minnesota fairly tight. That's the hottest team in the NHL in the month of November. It's not been an easy task. We've lost to them 2-1, 2-1 and now 3-2 in a shootout.

"We're close, we're getting there but it's the same stuff we've been talking about. How do we get this to a position where we're getting it over the top."

That remains the biggest unanswered question for the Jets, who slipped to 10-11-4 and have lost four consecutive games (0-2-2).

Given how tight things are in the Western Conference standings, going 3-9-2 within your division is simply a recipe for disaster.

Speaking of trends that can get a team in trouble, the Jets have now given four shorthanded goals, which leaves them tied for the most allowed in the NHL.

The Jets' power play, which has recently come back to life and scored five goals during their past five games, only has a plus-six goal differential with the man advantage and that's just not good enough.

On the game-tying goal, with defenceman Marco Scandella sat in the penalty box serving a hooking minor, the Jets had the puck in the offensive zone but as Toby Enstrom tried to keep the puck in at the left point, the puck went off the shoulder of Parise, giving the Wild an odd-man rush.

Wild captain Mikko Koivu showed incredible patience in gaining the offensive zone and waiting for the perfect opportunity before whipping a cross-ice pass to Parise, who buried a one-timer with 4:55 left in regulation.

Elite teams put opponents away when they get a late power play with a one-goal lead, not let them back in the contest.

"Obviously, giving one up late on your power play is not something you want to happen. We'll take full responsibility for that," said Jets captain Andrew Ladd. "I don't know if we fell apart. You like the effort (from the group) but it's still tough to take when you give up a late one on the power play.

"You've got to keep working and try to find a way. When you leave it down to a shootout, anything can happen. We know that. We've been in enough of those already."

After going 5-1 in shootouts to start the season, the Jets have dropped their past two and realize the penalty-shot contest remains a flip of the coin, for the most part.

The Jets picked up only two of a possible six points during a three-game homestand but showed some signs of life in terms of the way they need to play in order to have success -- with the exception of the loss to the Blackhawks that featured far too many passengers for the home side.

That wasn't an issue in this one.

Putting forth the effort is essential for this Jets team and that was certainly the case on Saturday afternoon against a team that can often be stifling defensively.

Being close isn't going to cut it in the end though and the Jets seem to realize that.

"We played a pretty good game, but when you're up a goal with just over five minutes left, you have to finish those off," said Jets defenceman Mark Stuart, who returned to the lineup after missing the past 10 games with a hip injury.

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Jets come up short against Wild

One little lapse proved to be incredibly costly for the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon.

Despite sticking to their structure, generating more offensively and putting forth a pretty sound performance, a shorthanded goal from Zach Parise with just under five minutes left in regulation allowed the Minnesota Wild to force overtime and eventually earn a 3-2 shootout victory over the Jets at MTS Centre.

Instead of going out on the road riding high after a hard-earned victory, the Jets are left to lament another lost point against a Central Division rival.

"For the most part we got a good effort from a lot of players and as you can see, winning and losing is determined by a fine line for us," said Jets head coach Claude Noel. "We've played Minnesota fairly tight. That's the hottest team in the NHL in the month of November. It's not been an easy task. We've lost to them 2-1, 2-1 and now 3-2 in a shootout.